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December 2, 2008 11:18:20 AM CST

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Let Facebook Ring from the Ivory Tower

Posted Dec 16, 07 12:11 PM CST in Technology,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Move over, preening teenagers: byte-thirsty academics are now frequenting social networking hangouts like Facebook and MySpace. Hoping to snatch a dissertation out of the latest digital craze, plus a side of fame, they’ll all have to line up behind danah boyd (small caps intended), a Berkeley PhD candidate who’s become a “celebrademic” with her insight on social networking and its effects.

She’s already aroused the ire of her colleagues in the ivory tower. One snarled that her work, which isn’t peer-reviewed, passes off mere blog entries as scholarship. And the competition is sure to get even more fierce as the field becomes more accepted as a research subject: Just recently, the University of Michigan has added a “social computing” concentration, the Washington Post reports.

Source Washington Post

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Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York, Monday, November 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)   (Associated Press)
  (Index Stock)
MySpace.com   (Getty Images)
Many researchers are studying the effects that Facebook is having on real and virtual society. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)   (Getty Images)
Facebook   (Getty Images)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Danah Boyd: A Discussion with Danah Boyd   (UNCChapelHill (YouTube))
danah boyd on "The O'Reilly Factor" discussing MySpace   (zephoria (YouTube))

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Facebook • social networking • MySpace • scholarship • academic research • National Science Foundation


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